Bud,
I like where the scrap yard went and the short radial. Good job there, you get an A plus! As for the compression spring, that is an easy fix. As for leveling the turntable, think our in-house carpenter will be needed. Or we can always have "Jack" do it! Lol!
Next weekend the radials will be lengthened and screwed down in place.
The turntable bridge needs the bogies at each end adjusted. Don't know how the "upgrade kit" bogies are attached or if they can be adjusted. The "old" bogies were attached with a spring leaf and could be bent to make contact. Contact of the bogies is needed 'cause that supplies electrical power to the bridge track.
A trip to Lowes will solve the spring issue.
More professional scenery work was done by our in house financial advisor, Bill. Absolutely beautiful work. Should have taken a picture but I know Bud will be doing that. Going to unpack the diecast cars so I can hammer a few to bits and pieces to make our junk yard on one of the southern elevated walls so Bill can plant some shrubbery around it.
Was visited by Andy who's a member of the New York Society of Model Engineers. Spent a goodly amount of time talking layouts and giving a cook's tour. Got only one little thing done.
Bill has been busy with the scenery.
Floodlights appeared in the roundhouse area. Think we'll have enough illumination?
Oh, that little thing done today. Had cut a narrow strip on the curved portion of the added elevated section to allow for car overhang clearance on the ramp curve. Planned to cover it with acoustic tile. Was not needed so just added a shim to raise the end and middle of the strip to the level of the ramp. Doesn't need tile for scenery.
Wow....I just discovered this thread and spent the last few hours reading the entire saga; fantastic!
The background mural is just awesome; your group was/is fortunate to have had such a great "artist in residence".
Question: you used Gargraves for the O gauge track; why did you not go with that same (terrific) brand for the S gauge loop? It can't be because of "brand loyalty", as I see you're now using a Lionel transformer... 
In any case, nice work and thank you for sharing this wonderful story.
Mark in (wet) Oregon
Bud, Every little bit of scenery helps! That's enough light to play major league baseball under!!
Strummer posted:Wow....I just discovered this thread and spent the last few hours reading the entire saga; fantastic!
The background mural is just awesome; your group was/is fortunate to have had such a great "artist in residence".
Thank you, Strummer. Not only am I an artist in residence, but I am also a club member. It took quite a few man hours to work on the 80 foot long mural. All that while I still work for a living for Wegmans. It acted as a way of relaxing after a long week's work. One of these days I'll use what I've learned to make a mural for MY layout.
Strummer - The reason we didn't use Gargraves track for the S-gauge is one of economics. We already had American Flyer track. The AF roadbed was gotten at a show very, very cheap; however it did need a lot of cleaning up. We're using the Lionel KW transformer because the earlier AF 8B 100 watt transformer (can be seen in an earlier page) didn't seem to hack it power wise. We did buy one box of O-gauge Gargraves track at a good price. The rest of the O-gauge track is either recycled from our old layout or from layouts the members were able to disassemble. The Ross (and in one case Curtis) switches are recycled from our old layout. Even the layout frame work is recycled from those disassembled layouts except for the upper level and ramps. Those are made from purchased plywood.
Mark - Yup, may have to wear sun glasses when we power up those floodlights. Gonna need a bigger transformer.
The KW transformer is going to be replaced with a donated Lionel RW 110 watt transformer that needs to be cleaned.
As for the O gauge layout which encompasses about 30 club members, all our track was from the old layout and from layouts that we disassembled. Unlike our HO side of the club which accounts for about 8 club members, they bought about $2,000 worth of code 100 Atlas track. A slight disproportiate amount in club members. We really could use some more HO members who are interested in building and modeling the NY, LB railroad from the 1950's.
Yes, our scenery pro has been hard at work planting trees and shrubs if there is open space!
Yes, over on the HO side we're currently progressing with the construction of Long Branch yard. After that will be Belmar, Point Pleasant, and finally Bay Head.
Ted was busy framing and mounting several very nice pix taken by one of our ex-members. Sorry, no pix, will have to rectify (wanted to get outta there with the rapid onset of a cold). Plus, Ted lengthened the tracks in the roundhouse. Area is now ready for final scenery (wiring will come later). Anxious to the fire up the floodlights, especially for our Open House on May 4th and 5th.
Was busy adding the tile surface to the added elevated area in the northwest corner. Didn't have much tile left but was able to "jig saw" what pieces we had. Have to add a few more pieces, glue down and paint. Final positioning of houses in that area is almost complete.
Ted got a new toy at York, a C&O Berk. He just had to try it out. Sweet engine. Great sounds.
...he doesn't look very happy. Does he like that engine?
Mark in Oregon
The C & O Berk runs and sounds great. Very happy with the purchase. Spending a few hours with the nutty professor can spin your wheels! Lol!
Oh yes Ted, I can see what spending time with the nutty professor can have! LOL The Berkshire looks great!
Some pix from Tuesday's runnin'.
Bill dismounting from the layout after adding scenery to the background. Watch out for those hoppers.
Eric plaaacccciiinnngg his American Flyer UP passenger train headed by AA PAs on the S-Gauge loop.
My Pennsy K4.
Trial fitting of EZ-Streets for the trolley line on the northwest elevation.
I can feel my disc bulging and pinching off my sciatic nerve again!!!!!! Yeow!!!!!
Bill was trying for a double dismount in preparation for the senior olympics. Give Bill some open real estate and he will populate with trees, scenery and investment properties!
Eric was doing a soft landing there. Think those AF trains are a little smaller than the Jet Blue planes he lands on a regular basis. After running his passenger set, the track work held up nicely so we can proceed and permanently lay that track in place.
Bud still busy designing his operating park there adding a trolley line. Next up behind there will be our memorial park dedicating to members who are longer with us.
Ted, so you are telling me that both Bill and Eric are in traction in the local hospital right now???? 
And I don't mean street car type traction either! 
Kidding aside, all the work you gents are doing looks great! I wish it wasn't so far away or I would come to see it all in person! Many thanks to all for the photographs! It's almost like being there!!!! 
Today the "glue crew", being myself and Jim cut 3 triangles of foam and glued them together on the corner pop up to raise the height of our upcoming memorial park for Captain Mike's Freehold Borough police dept., Denny's lawnmowers, Jonesey's used cars, Sven's train shop, need to figure what to do for Ernie and Alvin and a church with a hearst since we used to be located in the basement there.
Also glued down the ceiling tiles for Bud's upcoming action accessory area so we can paint the tiles, place the buildings, incorporate some EZ streets there with a trolley and wire up the action buildings.
Not too much buildin'. Mostly neatinin up for our Open House this weekend.
Some boat traffic being planned to go with the light house.
Ted's new/old N&W J.
Dave's CNJ RS3.
Pair of SD45s that Tom repainted in PC livery.
Stop by and visit us at our Open House this weekend May 4th and 5th from noon 'til 4 pm. Check our website for directions.
See ya then.
Bub, that looks like it will be a busy harbor! I like the 611 and RS3 a lot! I wish I was a lot closer. Have a great time with the open house!!
Some pix of our Open House this weekend. Saturday's attendance was light, Sunday's was a bit better.
O-Gauge.
"And that...", Ted explaining to Armen from the Historical Museum.
Solitude...wonder where they're going.
Nick, on the left, our newest Junior member, a train expert who easily challenges the train knowledge of older members. Sean, another Junior member, on the right.
Tale of two Big Boys, one Premier the other RailKing.
Smokin'.
Take me to your leader or...just let me take your cow.
Nick's train.
Where's the subway?
HO-Gauge.
Help. I'm stuck and can't get out.
Enrapt.
Manning the raffle table...busy, busy, busy.
Bud, It looks like a great open house! Thank you for the photographs! Yes Ted is doing a great job! Junior members are great!!
Ballasting was done in the roundhouse area. Next will be powering the floodlights.
The surface of the elevated area in the northwest corner was painted.
We did trouble shooting on TIU 1 used on tracks 1 and 2 by connecting TIU 2 to tracks 1 and 2. TIU 2 is used on tracks 3 and 4. DCS worked with TIU 2 on tracks 1 and 2. Looks like TIU 1 is toast and will need to be replaced. In an earlier part of the thread, trouble shooting found that TIU 1's fixed output for track 2 had shorted and we switched to the variable output but that did not work either. Haven't been able to use DCS on tracks 1 and 2 because of this. We also have Remote Kommanders connected on tracks 1 and 2. Wasn't able to try them with the TIU 2 setup since we didn't have a DCS engine set to factory reset. MTH says that they will work when both are connected but not to be used at the same time. We operated both when TIU 1 was working.
Wow! The layout really looks great. You guys did a heck of a job on it! I will try to make it to one of the next open houses. I would love to see it in person.
Phil,
You do not have to wait for an open house to visit us. We always have an open invite to folks in the area. Summer is coming and if anyone plans on coming to the Jersey shore, we are not far from there.
Yep, the painting and ballasting crew (me) was busy at work yesterday so we can start wiring up the MTH operating accessories. The tracks by the roundhouse were ballasted and Elmer's glue sprayed to harden that down.
Bill was busy planting more shrubbery and putting blue matting down underneath our Atlas bridge. I think water belongs under a bridge!
The layout designer/master was busy playing with his TIU's and the professor came to the conclusion that TIU 1 is fried beyond recognition!
Next Thursday we have a club visit from the South Knolls, Jackson, NJ car club where I live.
At our Business Meeting this past Tuesday, treasurer Frank presented a Lionel Bar Stool to our past President Dennis in appreciation for the many years he had to put up with us as President.
Then we celebrated by running trains.
Tom's repainted E7 in NJ Transit colors.
Doug's Santa Fe and Dennis' AMTRAK rounding the roundhouse curve.
Dennis' AMTRAK rounding our horseshoe curve hauling the mail. Tom in the "back" ground.
My Pennsy K4 on the hi-line. Tony's NJT to the side.
Who's going where?
Doug running more of his vintage AF and praying that all the operating hopper cars stay connected.
Looks like a great time, Bud!!
Pics from the visit by the South Knolls Car Club.
Oops. Thought I had placed by Cab-1 securely on the layout. It fell to the floor and shattered the outer covering of the "rubber ducky" antenna that I had installed (so much for "flexibility"). Will probably cover the exposed antenna with heat shrink unless I find the original antenna and reinstall that.
Looks like a nice bunch of folks visiting! Sorry for the damaged antenna
To pretty much paraphrase Strummers' comment somewhere above, I took a L O N G stroll through this thread....finally..... and have to exclaim how great it looks. It's raining outside, like all get out, so I logged on, saw this thread and have to say kudos to y'all for sharing, even daring to point out the HO interlopers..LOL
RedJimmy,
You can say it is a rarity to have a multi gauge club with the scale freaks of our HO buddies and the O gauge guys who want to run trains and do some scenery work no matter what the sizes are!
Ted
Update to our MTH TIU issues:
We ordered the new TIU and Wifi package, had our TIU which was thought to be bad being repaired and having everything updated to tbe latest version by our local MTH repair person, All Aboard Trains in Barnegat,NJ who I highly recommend using for MTH repairs.
Hooked everything up on Thursday with the help of our junior member, Sean, who helped wire up the TIU's and Wifi to the layout. Installed those into the remotes and got Wifi operating in my phone. Amazing how these younger guys know this stuff!
All 4 lines worked perfectly with the remotes and the MTH Wifi system performed GREAT via my IPhone SE. I am sold on Wifi and don't need the competitor's wifi. MTH system runs it all. Good job, MTH.
Pictures to follow when Bud gets down to the club with his roving camera.
As promised while Bud has been nursing his wife's fractured arm, we have done plenty without the professor's supervision. Plenty indeed! We've been busy.
Glued addtional building fronts to the walls with liquid nails and some wooden supports to hold them in place. Check out the skyscraper's left support beam to keep it from becoming the Leaning Tower of Lakewood, NJ!
Our American Flyer Army Lieutenant Colonel, Doug, has been busy acquiring real estate for our S gauge addtion and started to spread his wings with a switch siding. Makes sense to stage the AF trains there than climbing on the layout. Also, we cut a nice "to be" lift up hatch and re-designed the EZ streets to circumvent inside the AF loop. More work to follow.
Some action from the HO New York & Long Branch side.
An Atlas CNJ H16 leads a mail train through Matawan. Second scene is also Matawan with a JC local freight.
Ted and Joe, thank you for the photographs and videos of the current state of affairs!
The question is, did you have to wait until Bud was away to sneak in Doug with the AF?? Looks great, Doug!!!
Today the O gauge building crew was at work putting up some urban development neighborhoods along our elevated trestle system. The skyscrapers have LED lighting so wiring them next.
A little glue here and there with temporary wooden reinforcement till the footings took hold!! The rock wall paper cut to proper lengths and elmer glued to the walls.
There is a picture of the S Gauge spur in its building process encroaching space over the O gauge lines! Give Doug some space and now spreading the wealth.
Picture from today's show at Brick, NJ with junior club member, Sean Kenney and our small 3 loop fastrack layout. We run trains there for the public.
Notice Sean's NGauge in the very middle running of a 9 volt battery. I had a large monitor wired to my Ipad connected to the Lionel Wifi caboose.
Sean looks like a happy young train enthusiast! That is good your club was represented at the Sale.
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